Last minute visit to the Taj Mahal

I made it at last!!

Early morning photos of the monument

After flying to Delhi for a rather short stay of only 22 hours, I knew everything would really have to fall into place for a possible visit to the Taj Mahal. I had been working on putting the trip together all week whilst I was in Calcutta, but things just didn't seem to be falling into place. I had thought I'd successfully booked train tickets early in the week from Delhi to Agra and back, but every time I tried to purchase the tickets, my credit card was denied. I found out later that there are problems with trying to arrange a trip like this with an international credit card. My concierge at the Hyatt in Calcutta was working the phones daily to try and help me, but in the end it looked as though my flight to Delhi might be a waste of money.

I actually arrived in Delhi on Saturday night at 9pm with little to no help of seeing the Taj Mahal. The reason being is that Agra (where the Taj Mahal is located) is 225 kilometers from Delhi, and the trains had been sold out for several days. Renting a car and driver was an option, but prices were in the 175 dollar range, and I'd have to leave by 4am to have any chance of getting there and successfully making it back later in the day for my flight out of Delhi later that same evening. Driving was not only way more costly than a 30 dollar roundtrip train fare, it was also more dangerous. Driving in India is hazardous to your health under normal conditions, but driving from Delhi to Agra mostly in the dark, is even riskier. Heavy fog often adds additional hazards to the trip.

Fortunately for me, I arrived in Delhi and learned that one of my fellow coaches was also interested in making the trip. We found two other coaches willing to go, located a car/driver, and ultimately decided to give it a go upon learning that the fog would not be a factor. We went to bed after midnight, and set the alarm for 4am so we could get an early start. Our trip out was truly an adrenaline rush, weaving in and out of traffic, trying to avoid animal carts, rickshaws, pedestrians, and hundreds of other trucks on the dark roadways. There is really no sense of lane integrity in India, you just beep the tar out of the horn and advance as much as possible. There are no such things as right of way, yield signs, passing lanes, crosswalks, or any other symbols that serve to regulate the flow of traffic. It is survival of the fittest and even a simple trip on the roads here can leave one wondering if it might be time to update your will. Even short trips provide any rider with more thrills than a full day at Six Flags. The trip to Agra took 3.5 hours and the trip back took 4.5 hours, so everything worked out okay. Our driver did just fine avoiding all the horsedrawn carts, elephants, monkeys, donkeys, wild dogs, people, and large moving trucks without any lights on!!!! In the end, we lived to tell about, even if just barely.

Now on to the feature presentation...... The Taj Mahal and all its spendor. Let me first say a few things about this "Wonder of the World." The Taj Mahal is a monument of love that sits on the banks of the Yamuna River in the city of Agra. It was built by more than 20,000 workers over a period of 20-22 years. Construction began in the early 1630's and didn't finish until the middle of the 1650's. Materials to build the monument came from not only India, but all over Asia. In fact, more than 1,000 elephants were used to transport the materials during the construction of this magnificent structure. The Taj was commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tribute to his 3rd wife, Mumtaz Mahal. She died while giving birth to their 14th child. Jahan was devastated and grief stricken over the death of Mumtaz, so he decided to do something grand to honor her.

Here are some images of this amazing place.

It took a camel, a cart, and one U.S. dollar for the 4 of us to make the 1km trek out from our taxi drop-off point to the front gate of the Taj Mahal

Beautiful white marble

Fine detail and craftmanship from the 1600's

The reflecting pool

It is said that the 130 ft. + tall minarets are showing signs of tilting

Shoe condoms are required before entering the mausoleum of the structure

A boatman is making his way across the Yamuna River

The level of detail seen in these rooms is just amazing

Etchings of flowers

This place was worth the effort to visit

One of our coaches from Northwestern University-- "Meech" always draws a lot of attention and many requests for photos

One of the red sandstone structures that lie to the east/west of the Taj Mahal

The crowds were minimal due to us arriving so early--- but things were much busier by the time we departed some 2-3 hrs. later




Lights out.